Bag support and motor shield for suction cleaners



Sept. 22, 1953 R. E. SHEAHAN BAG SUPPORT AND MOTOR SHIELD FOR SUCTION CLEANERS Filed Dec. 7, 1951 Fi .L

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Patented Sept. 22, 1953 BAG SUPPORT AND MOTOR SHIELD FOR SUCTION CLEANERS Robert E. Sheahan,

Chagrin Falls, Ohio, assigno'r to General Electric Company, a corporation of New York Application December 7, 1951, Serial No. 260,390 3 Claims. (0]. 183-37) My invention relates to suction cleaners of the so-called tank type. More particularly, by invention relates to improved constructions for the supporting of dust bags or filters in such cleaners, for the effective dispersing of dust in the dust bag, and for proper shielding of the motor in such cleaners.

In some recent suction cleaners, it has become popular to provide a disposable dust collecting bag which rests generally inside of a permanent dust bag or similar supporting structure, the disposable bag being made of a relatively inexpensive and fragile material such as felted fibers or porous paper. Consequently, in such cleaners, ordinary bag supports are not entirely satisfactory because small pebbles, tacks and similar hard articles picked up by the cleaner may puncture the material of the disposable bag and destroy its dust filtering properties. Because the dust bagmay surround or be adjacent the motor of the cleaner, a puncture in the bag may also permit articles to pass through and damage the motor. One object of my invention is to make a bag support and motor shield for a disposable ag in a suction cleaner such that small hard articles in the incoming air will not puncture the bag even though it is made of a fragile material. Another object of my invention is to produce a dust bag support arranged so as to direct the air flow through the bag for air for long periods of time without appreciable "loss of effectiveness of the filtering action and without greatly increasing the pressure drop through the cleaner. The objects of my invention are met generally by improved structure to be described here including a bag support immediately opposite the air intake opening of the cleaner having an imperforate convex surface in the area of greatest velocity of air discharge from the intake, and by forming the support to provide an annular pocket around this convex surface with the major portion of the balance of the support, outside of the high velocity intake area, being perforated for the free passage of air.

Other-objects and further details of that which I believe to be novel and my invention will be clear from the following description and claims taken with the. accompanying drawing in which is bodying the present invention and incorporating my improved bagsupporting and motor shielding structures. In the drawing, Fig. 1 is a vertical sectional view through a complete tank type cleaner and Fig. 2 is proper filtering of the illustrated an example of suction cleaner ema side elevation view on a 2 smaller scale of a modified form of bag support and motor shield which may be used in the cleaner of Fig. .1.

My invention is shown applied to a tank cleaner of the vertical type, sometimes called a canister cleaner. Such a cleaner includes a vertical generally cylindrical body I and a removable cover 2 clamped to the body by suitable cover clamp 3. The particular .form of cover clamp illustrated here is not my invention but is that of Louis Segreto and is covered by an application Serial No. 263,576 of December '27, 1951., assigned to the same assignee as the present invention. In place of the cover clamp shown, any other suitable clamping arrangement may be used.

In order to align the cover properly with the body of the cleaner so that the cover clamping lugs 4 will be properly positioned with respect to the clamps, I may provide the body of the cleaner with grooves 5 inline with the clamps, and cooperating guiding arms 6 inside the cover in line with the lugs 4. Thus, the cover cannot be seated on the body unless the guides 6 are positioned in the slots 5, in which case the lugs 4 line upwith the clamps 3.

.At the top of the cover, in its center, I have shown an air inlet fitting 7 with an opening 8 which is in the axial. center :of the cleaner. As is usual, the fitting I is connected to a hose and suitable cleaning tools which are used in operation of the cleaner.

In order to produce suction through the cleaner, a fan and motor unit 8 is provided near the bottom of the cleaner, the motor portion of the. unit being indicated at It] and. the fan portion being indicated at H. Upon proper connection of" the motor to an electrical power source (not shown) the motor will operate and drive the fan to produce a .fiowzof air through the fan and motor unit, passing from the opening 12 in the motor portion of the unit, through the motor, through the fan, and out of the discharge openings is near the bottom. of the fan casing. The motor fan unit is suitably supported within the cleaner body and for this: purpose, I have shown a resilient supporting ring It surrounding the power unit- This supporting ring is in turn carri'ed by a. more or less horizontal shelf l5 extendi-ng inwardly from the sides of the cleaner body.

Theresilient supporting-ring M is held in place on the shelf I 5: by the edges of the rigid bag support and motor shield I6. This bag support and shield may be removably secured to the. shelf [5 and on top of the supporting ring 14 as by screws I! threaded into the shelf l5. The nature of this bag support and motor shield is of the utmost importance in my invention. Sheet metal is the preferred material. It will be seen that it is generally in the form of an inverted cup with a convex surface at its top directly opposite the air inlet opening 8 of the cleaner. This convexity may be emphasized to the point where it becames almost a cone. However, sharp points or edges are to be avoided for obvious reasons. In the center of the top of the bag support in the area opposite the air inlet which is subjected to air of the highest velocity from the inlet, this bag support is left entirely unperforated and solid so that air or particles will not pass therethrough. Also by reason of being solid, no air or air and dirt mixture is urged by suction to flow toward this top area, but is urged to flow radially 7 outwardly. This solid area is indicated by the portionbracketed and numbered H3 in the drawing. Outside of the area l8 the bag support is provided with a plurality of perforations I9 closely spaced and extending well down over the sides of the bag support opposite the sides of the motor [0. In the form shown in Fig. 2, the perforations in the sides of the bag support are in. the form of elongated slots which have been found'convenient for purposes of manufacture and for this reason are preferred.

For additional protection to the motor, a second solid imperforate annular area 2| is provided around the motor shield opposite the brushes 22 of the motor, spaced from the solid area 58 by some of the perforations l9. This band will prevent damage to electrical parts which otherwise might occur if a hairpin or similar article should puncture the dust bag or filter at this point.

The dust filtering and collecting arrangement shown here is of the character shown and claimed in the patent 2,591,382, and assigned to the same assignee as the present invention. This dust bag is in effect two bags, an outer cloth filter 23 supported by a rigid ring 24 from the top edge of the cleaner body, and an inner disposable bag 25 located inside of the bag 23 and supported at its top end by a bag supporting dome or bell 26. A resilient compressible gasket ring 21 surrounds the supporting ring 24, seals this ring around the top of the cleaner body, and supports the bell or dome 26 on its upper surface. A second resilient compressible gasket 28 is carried by the cover around the opening 8, holding the disposable bag 25 against the bag support .26 and pressing the bottom edge of the support 26 against the gasket 21 when the cover of the cleaner is clamped in place.

In operation of the cleaner, air will be drawn in through the inlet fitting 1, be discharged downwardly through the opening 8 and some air will strike the area Within the filtering bag 01' bags immediately above the convex imperforate section 18 on the bag support and motor shield. Any hard particles will be harmlessly deflected toward the annular pocket 29 which surrounds the bag support. The convex or conical nature of the top of the bag support assists in this defiection and in redirecting the air so that a swirling action of air will be obtained in the annular pocket area of the bag or bags. Dust will, therefore, collect first in the pocket 29 and upon continued operation of the cleaner air will pass through the bag and through the openings l9 near the top of the motor shield even though the bottom of the pocket is filled with dust. Also there will be no tendency for air to be drawn diof Archie E. Smith, No.

rectly against the top of the motor shield by suction since the top is imperforate and air will be drawn in elsewhere. For example, after passing through the outer walls of the disposable bag 25 and of the cloth bag 23 some air will flow down along the sides of the cleaner body, under the filtering bags, and back toward the center through the holes l9 or slots 20 near the bottom of the motor shield.

After passing through the filters and through the openings i9 and 20 in the bag support or motor shield, air will be drawn into the motor and fan unit at the openings 12 and will be discharged from the openings 13 into an initial discharge chamber 30 surrounding the fan end of the fan and motor unit. From this chamber, the exhaust air will pass through opening 3| in the interior vertical supporting wall 32, be diffused in the annular diffusing chamber 33 which surrounds the cleaner body at its base, and be discharged from the cleaner through the circumferential slot or opening 34. A ring of glass wool fiber or similar filtering and noise suppressing material 35 may be provided just inside of the slot 34 for purposes which are obvious. Other filtering or noise supressing structures might alternatively be used in the exhaust chambers or passages if desired.

It will be seen that the bag support and motor shield of my invention supports the filtering bag in such a fashion that the material of the bag is protected and the motor is shielded, and that this support directs the flow of air within the bag for improved filtering effect, and that the support and shield also holds the motor and fan unit in place within the cleaner.

As will be evident from the foregoing description, certain aspects of my invention are not limited to the particular details of construction of the examples illustrated and I contemplate that various and other modifications and applications of the invention will occur to those skilled in the art. It is, therefore, my intention that the appended claims shall cover such modifications and applications as do not depart from the true spirit and scope of my invention.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

i. In a suction cleaner of the canister type having a substantially cylindrical body with a central air inlet opening at its top end, a dust filtering bag made entirely of porous flexible material positioned Within the body adjacent and below said opening, and a motor and fan unit centrally located in the bottom of said body beyond said filter bag, that improvement in a bag supporting air deflector and motor shield comprising an inverted generally cup-shaped. substantially rigid member axially aligned with said inlet opening and positioned between the bottom of said filter bag and the top of said motor, said support and shield member being spaced from the side walls of said body, the space between said cup member and the side walls forming an annular dust-collecting pocket in said bag surrounding said inverted cup, a convex imperforate end wall deflecting area on said cup member positioned opposite the inlet opening under the bag, said cup member extending over and around the sides of said motor and said member having perforations therein outside of said imperforate area.

2. In a suction cleaner of the canister type having a generally cylindrical body with a 'central inlet opening at its top end, a dust filtering bag made entirely of porous flexible material positioned within the body adjacent and below said opening, and a motor and fan unit centrally located in the bottom of said body beyond said bag, that improvement in a bag supporting air deflector and motor shield comprising an inverted rigid cup member axially aligned with said inlet opening and positioned between the bottom of said bag and the top of said motor, said support and shield member being spaced from the sides of said body with the space between said cup member and the sides of said body forming an annular dust collecting pocket in said bag surrounding said inverted cup, a convex imperforate central end wall deflecting surface on said cup positioned opposite the inlet opening in said body under the bag, said cup member extending over and around the sides of said motor, a second imperforate area annularly surrounding said cup member but spaced from said imperforate end wall surface and said member having perforations therein between and below said imperforate areas whereby incoming air is deflected around said cup member into said annular dust collecting pocket by said imperforate surfaces and the bag is supported and the motor is shielded by said cup member.

3. In a tank type suction cleaner having a substantially vertical cylindrical body with a central inlet opening at its top end, a dust filtering bag made entirely of flexible porous material positioned within the body adjacent and below said opening, a bag support in the body in the direction of air flow beyond and below the bag, and a motor and fan unit beyond and below the bag support, that improvement in the bag support, in deflecting air and in mounting and shielding the motor comprising said bag support being substantially rigid, generally inverted cup-shaped and axially aligned with said inlet opening and having a convex imperforate central end deflecting surface positioned under the bag opposite the inlet opening and perforated surfaces elsewhere on said support, said support extending over and around the sides of said motor and engaging said motor and means securing said bag support to said body, said securing means thereby also fastening said motor and fan unit in said body.

ROBERT E. SHEAHAN.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,031,454 Belde et al. Feb. 18, 1936 2,242,278 Yonkers, Jr May 20, 1941 2,539,195 Lang Jan. 23, 1951 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 524,095 Germany July 10, 1927 

